Let’s Catch Up

Why hello there! It’s been a while since we chatted more about my life rather than focusing on food. While I’m all about keepin’ my food game strong, I honestly miss checking in with you guys about what’s happening behind the scenes. As some of you might know, these last few months have been a crazy transition period. I graduated college and, for the first time since I was 5, I’m no longer in the education system. Even typing that out sounds crazy. A whole big era. Done. Just like that.

One of the biggest reasons for my personal-blogging hiatus has just been due to being busy. The summer through October is wedding season and finding a balance between blogging and my “official” job has been tricky. I’ve been blogging for much longer than I’ve been doing professional photography for and, to be honest, the novelty of blogging wears off after a while. I didn’t want blogging to become something that felt like purely a job, so I knew I had to step away from it. As soon as I start to push myself to pump out content left and right when I’m already worn down and tired, it’s no longer fun. But with October winding down and with a relatively calm November, I’m ready to come back with full force.

In the meantime, here are a few general life updates!

I’m working full-time now as a photographer + blogger and am seriously loving every single minute.

Life is so good right now and I can’t remember ever being this happy and certain about where I am. School was an anxious time for me (as it is with a ton of people). There’s endless amounts of room for self-doubt about the future. I used to worry –and still do on occasion– that I would look back when I’m older and feel like I squandered my youth. I was so afraid that I would be unhappy with my career choices and that I would have all this regret about wasted time. Wedding photography has me constantly exploring new places, meeting the best new people, and expanding my creativity while learning more about myself every step of the way. It’s exhausting and exhilarating and I’m having the time of my life. I love love love my job and being my own boss and just being so dang passionate about what I’m doing. I feel content and more confident in myself than I ever have before. I’m right where I want to be and that’s pretty cool :).

I moved from Santa Barbara back to my hometown and am kicking it with the parents for the time being.

To follow that big paragraph above, there are plenty of negatives that come with having graduated. I miss my friends. I miss being able to wake up, climb down from my loft bed, and see all the girls I lived with. I miss walking outside and instantly being greeted by a social environment. It gets lonely and there’s a certain culture shock that comes with leaving all of that college goodness behind. While I still think I’m adjusting well, being back home couldn’t be more of a flip flop. It’s hard to go back to having to share space with my parents and sister as a young adult. I feel like college gives you a taste of freedom and that suddenly, you move back home and things feel cramped and you crave having more of your own space. You feel like you’re more of a visitor and it can be tricky adjusting back to being surrounded by family 24/7, especially when you work from home for most days of the week. One thing that I’ve been struggling with is being able to spend time with Kyle. He’s been working long hours and it’s been hard having to coordinate whose house we meet up with, what times work for both our schedules, and to only really see him for a few hours. Since I’m working most weekends with shoots and he works on the weekdays, coordinating becomes tiring and I can’t help but think that living together would simplify things to a big extent. Kyle and I have started to planning process for getting our own place and I’m excited to start a new chapter of our lives together. That all being said, I appreciate my parents letting me stay at home while we figure out our lives ;). Thanks, mom and dad!

Kyle got hired by his dream job!

After a pretty rigorous internship, Kyle is now a full-time SpaceX employe and working man!

We went on a job honeymoon trip to San Diego

His managers told him that he should take some time off while the paperwork got processed, so Kyle and I went on an impromptu mini-trip to San Diego to make use of his free time. We did the normal tourist things like visiting the zoo, wandering around Balboa Park, checking out the natural science museum, eating good food, and getting massages. It was great!

I’ve been slowly easing into working out.

Ahhhh back on this topic! It’s been a while since I’ve felt like I’ve had a groove and routine with working out. Back when I was at UCSB, my exercise routine was mostly governed by when my midterms and finals were. Now, I’ve found that the number of weddings and shoots I have is the big deciding factor. Wedding photography is an incredibly physical job (you’re on your feet for 8-10 hours straight and I carry about 15 lbs of gear strapped to my shoulders for most of it) and you basically feel like you’ve run a half marathon when you wake up the next day. It takes me a full two days to recover from them, so during busy season it’s hard to motivate myself to go when I’m not being consistent. As always, I’m working on it! Progress, not perfection ;).

I’ve been fighting burnout with baking + shooting for myself

While I love what I do, it’s tiring and can be mentally and physically straining at times. I’ve been fighting burnout with baking boxed brownies whenever I need a pick me up (my favorite haha) and I recently organized a small shoot where I was shooting for myself and not for paid work/publication. It felt awesome to be creative and to work with some of my favorite vendors to get re-inspired!

And that’s all I can think of! I’ll try to be more consistent (I’m actually going to work on an editorial calendar right after I finish this post). Thanks for following along!

Comments

Really fun to catch up on your life, Christine! A huge congrats to both you and Kyle for finding those dream jobs Sounds like a big adjustment living back home temporarily for sure…hope it goes as smoothly as possible, especially with all of your working from home. Your photos just keep getting better and better!

Welcome back, Christine! I’m not lying when I say I’ve been checking your blog for new posts at least once a week, wondering how you were doing. Even though I’m a slacky commenter I do follow along. Wow did a lot change since you previously posted. Congratulations on turning your passion into your job – no surprise you’re busy because your pictures are amazing. Also congrats to Kyle for getting his dream job!
Re: living with your parents again after being independent for years already: I feel you on that one. Not easy for either side but also has its benefits. Still, I’ll keep my fingers crossed you’ll be able to relocate come time.
On a last note: don’t stress about the workouts, A friend of my sister’s is a photographer as well and I can imagine how that job alone is strenuous enough,Miss Polkadot recently posted…Good good links #167

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Christine is a self-proclaimed apple pie connoisseur with a small obsession with all things giraffes. She currently is 21 years old and a full-time biology student at UCSB and runs her own food blog and portrait/wedding photography biz. Read More…